Author: Infertility Honesty

After four years of trying to conceive, one surgery, and ten failed fertility treatments, I'm now five years into navigating this childless not by choice infertility survivor experience. The picture at the top of my blog is of Warrior 2 pose, in honor of our tribe of warriors.

I adjusted and engaged my shoulders the best I could, inhaled a breath and raised my arms up into Warrior two to the unwelcome resonance of snapping and clicking.

Shrieking expletives soon filled the air of my cozy yoga space, along with yoga blocks boomeranging off the walls and a few crow poses raised in shoulder injury defiance.

This had never happened to me during a practice before.I’m all for working within my body’s limits and even find the excursion intriguing.But something else was going on.And so, as my likely wiser self hovered in the background gently whispering over and over, “Easy, tiger – don’t make it worse”, another aspect of my wiser self knew I needed to let it rip. Read more →

As an involuntarily childless infertility and IVF survivor, the best Mother’s Day gift I can offer my Mom is my own well being

I know it has been awhile, dear readers.More on my unexpected hiatus from blogging and the pieces above later.

For now, I‘m happy to report that I made it through my end of the week travels relatively unscathed by any Mother’s Day hoopla.A few people with whom I’m in regular contact even remembered to not bid me a “Happy Mother’s Day” and upgraded to the somewhat inaccurate but much more welcome “Have a nice weekend” instead.

Or at least I’d like to think so.I regularly check myself as I’ve been prone to fantasizing about people giving a shit over the past five or so years, often to find out they were not even dipping their big toenail into my shoes.But assuming it was intended, these seemingly micro considerations render a difference in one’s well being for the better. Read more →

The surprising benefits of themes, nuts and bolts

I haven’t been playing coy.At least totally not on purpose anyway.I’m well aware of what time of year it is.

The often bargain basement notion of “focusing on something else” has functioned as a dismissive annoyance for the better part of my healing process.“Focus on the life you DO have” – when that was thrown my way for many years people may as well have been poking me with a fire iron.So disparaging and unintelligent in its simplicity, isn’t it?While ultimately that was what I wanted to move towards coming out of treatments (because really, who HASN’T thought of that), the trip from point a to point b is nothing short of a brutal, painstaking labyrinth.And that’s putting it nicely.

Not to mention that when you are putting yourself through the wringer to try to have a child, and when you are coming to terms with the fact you will never be a parent, these things ARE major parts of the life you do have.This is not a trip to Vegas, people.What happens in baby making and involuntary childlessness land does not merely STAY in baby making and involuntary childlessness land.

And there are always those people around you hyped to find you a “distraction”, especially when your pain reaches its peaks and needs to be felt and expressed most.A distraction deemed for you when it is really for them, as if it’s possible to focus on anything else but trying to comprehend your missing children and make sense of this new life you didn’t ask for.

It seems though, I’ve finally figured out an application for the peripheral “focus on something else” modus operandi (perhaps there is a time and a place and a grain of truth to almost everything).Yes boys and girls, so far this year I’ve found that “focusing on something else” during the Christmas season may be my way to go for now.

Pronatalism in Politics

The carefully orchestrated campaign material came in the form of a gut punching drizzle.

First, a leaflet listing the candidate’s attributes – mom, community leader and South Shore native.Yes, in that order.Then a greeting card layout splattered with pictures of her children that introduced them to us – ready or not!Followed by a brochure featuring her and her children who were holding up a handmade “Mama for Congress” sign (which they clearly did not fashion themselves).Of the five pictures inside, two featured her children, one of which was her campaigning with one of them.Some people may view this as going above and beyond, as an obstacle to overcome.I view it as an opportunity I and so many like me will never have.

Two slightly more informative brochures followed.One donned with her lifting her son out of a car seat on the cover.With the last, a dash of hope things were heading to the realm of more substantive and relevant.Until I flipped it over to be greeted by her speaking in front of a group while cradling her son on her hip.

I wanted to support her, I wanted to help remove the incumbent in my congressional district, but through all the parenthood drool how was I supposed to determine if she’s a good candidate?Read more →

Royal baby news surprisingly strikes me sideways

I awoke rested and peaceful, cradled by a soggy morning filled with a delicious sense of pause.

As I made our coffee I reveled in having a day with my husband – a lazy morning and a day off, rare for him lately, where I felt good enough to go with him to get some much needed and long awaited clothes shopping done.

Delightfully anticipating dinner at our favorite authentic hole in the wall Japanese restaurant, I cracked open my laptop.

“Well god damnit!” I barked, as the latest royal family pregnancy news smacked me in the face.“Megan and Harry are pregnant already – they just got married like five minutes ago.I guess THAT was easy” I spewed to my husband. Read more →

So hold onto your hats folks, you can read a much more robust account of my fertility industry journey HERE. For years I wasn’t able to speak or write about it in its entirely all that coherently. The amount there was to process seemed endless and unfathomable. It’s only recently (about 4.5 years out of treatments) that a quasi rear view mirror of sorts has emerged through which to view and assimilate things.

People come to childlessness via many different paths. I feel it’s important for the entire CNBC community to have a reasonable level of awareness regarding the perpetual trauma from which many of us are emerging or have emerged.

Reprotechtruths.org is dedicated to #unmaskingIVF and to helping “future generations understand the associated risks and costs”. Thanks to Pamela for creating and curating this crucial site.

For those who have direct experiences with the fertility industry, your stories are important, especially in light of the current lack of patient tracking. If you too are interested in sharing your story on reprotechtruths.org, click here.

Be back in a couple of weeks with some writing, finally, just for this blog:-)